


Silence

by twerklikestrider



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, College AU, Humanstuck, Multi, Mute!John, alertnate universe, mutestuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-17
Updated: 2013-06-25
Packaged: 2017-12-15 06:35:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/846430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twerklikestrider/pseuds/twerklikestrider
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mute!John Humanstuck College AU.<br/>He'd never heard his own voice. He would never be able to say "I love you,". He would never be normal, he'd always feel broken, a part of him would always be missing. But at least he had that one person who would try to fix him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I've known basic and some conversational ASL for a while now and I wanted to use that in a fic, but it's a little hard to translate that so what people are signing will be obvious, in italics. I will describe the actions sometimes but if it confuses you don't worry it is really hard to explain. I'm also British and I haven't gone to college so I don't know how it works so this is basically guessing. Sorry if I fuck it up :)  
> Also sorry for the title and summary I couldn't think of anything else.

"I'll meet you back here in a bit okay?" Jade leant against the car, handing her brother his final box of belongings. John nodded at her and carried it towards his room, following the others carrying his things.  John's roommate wasn't there yet, leaving him to choose his side of the room. He elected to sleep below the window, so he could open it if he felt enclosed in the small room he'd be sharing with someone else. He had applied for his own room before Jade had stopped him and encouraged him to share with someone in case something happened to him. Two names were written on a slip of paper taped to the door, one being his own name the other, Strider, Dave.

John glanced around the rest of the room: two beds pushed into opposite corners of the room, next to a small bedside table and two desks that sat side by side. It was large enough to live in and not small enough to be suffocating. He hoped this Dave wouldn't be messy and unorganised, not that he could really complain- his room at home was a mess. Carefully John pulled one of his posters from its case and unrolled it, taping it next to the window. He spent a good half an hour unpacking, filling one side of the closet with his clothes, placing his stationary and laptop on his desk and lining the shelf over his bed with some books and ornaments.

Jade arrived about an hour later, having parked the car and picked up all of John's forms and his timetables. She sat with him on the bed and went through the seemingly endless piles of paper until she had to leave the campus.

"I'll be back in the morning for your orientation, I'll text you where to meet!" John watched her walk across the grass to her car from his window, a feeling of dread settling over him.

At around 5 the door opened again and two people walked in; the first one glanced around the room before his gaze settled on John. His eyes narrowed and he snarled a little, his messy dyed- black hair falling in his face.

"You're John? This is your roommate, Dave. Try not to smoke, drink or kill each other. I'm your dorm leader for this semester." He hissed, false menace colouring his voice as he spoke.

John retreated further onto his bed, drawing his knees up to his chest.

"Oh yeah, you're the mute kid aren't you?" The shorter one spoke again, leaning forward and sneering at John. "This is Dave, I'm sure you can figure out how to communicate because it is none of my fucking business."

The short shouty boy left, closing the door with a slam. John looked at his room mate. He was much taller than John, well-muscled with styled white-blond hair swept partially over mirrored shades. He wore a faded band t-shirt John didn't recognise and dark blue jeans. He only had the one box in his hand, his suitcase left by the door.

"Hey. I'm Dave. I... How am I supposed to know what you're tryna say?" His Texan accent was thick and John melted slightly inside. He'd never heard his own voice. Would he sound like Jade, only deeper? Or would he have lisp? A stutter? A different accent altogether?

John snapped out of his reverie and grabbed his phone from the bedside table, opened the notepad feature and tapped out a message.

_My sister signs, she'll be back in the morning._

Dave nodded, before turning to the door as it opened. Two men stepped in, arms laden with boxes. They both could have been twins were it not for the obvious age difference; John concluded that the three of them must be brothers.

Dave confirmed this as he introduced them, adding in a subtle note to them that John didn't speak. The older male had a habit of calling Dave "lil man," also in a heavy Texan accent, as they hauled all of Dave's belongings into the room.

John stood up and helped them, listening to the Strider's chatter. He felt very nervous in their presence. When they left, the younger of Dave's older brothers ruffled his hair and smiled at John.

"Thanks kid," he said as they left Dave and John on their own once more.

"It's late, I'm gonna sleep." Dave removed his shirt suddenly, managing to leave his glasses on in the process, and swiftly removed the rest of his clothes until he stood in just his boxers.

John's eyes widened behind his thick glasses, amazed at how comfortable Dave was with doing that. He looked away, a blush stealing across his tanned face, as he went into the bathroom to change into the clothes he would sleep in.

 

* * *

The next morning was uneventful; John and Dave woke around the same time, took their turns showering and getting dressed before heading out to meet Jade- all in near total silence.

They walked into the campus cafe, spotting Jade and walking over to her.

John motioned for the taller boy to sit next to him and smiled shyly. Jade raised an eyebrow slowly, and placed a finger to near her lips, curling it over and flattening her hand, pulling it up and then down through the air before finally pointing to Dave. _Who is that?_

John signed back, _this is Dave._

The blond looked between the siblings, a look of bemusement and slight frustration in his eyes, hidden by his obnoxious shades.

"Hi, Dave, I'm Jade, John's little sister." Jade grinned at the new addition to their group, and motioned to his sunglasses. "What's with those?"

"Oh, it's ironic, y'know. Wearing shades indoors."

John frowned and looked at his sister. _But you wear them outside too._

Jade repeated this to Dave, frowning also.

"Irony, John, all in the name of irony."

"Right, like anyone buys that bullshit anymore Dave." A slim dark haired girl slid in next to them, also wearing sunglasses.

"Hey Terezi, long time no see." Dave slung an arm around the girl casually and laughed, pulling her towards the others. John made an exasperated motion at Jade.

"He wants to know why so many people are hiding their eyes." Jade pierced her juice box with the straw and drank from it before continuing, "John likes to be able to see people's eyes."

The girl laughed, a high pitched and unpleasant sound. "So you're mute huh? I'm partially sighted," she said, removing the red tinted glasses and leaning closer to John, having to lean across Dave's lap in the process. Her eyes were a milky orange colour, the pupil on the left bleeding slightly into the white of the eyes.

"I was born like it," the girl said softly, replacing the shades and leaning back in her seat. "So I can make out shapes and see where I'm going, but I have to wear these," Terezi tapped the lenses with a long finger, "what's cool is my synaesthesia."

A slow smile crept over her face as she leaned forward again and licked a long stripe up John's face.

"You taste of blue." John's own eyes widened and he looked at Jade, whose mouth had fallen open, her juice box dripping onto the table, then at Dave who was restraining a laugh.

"I can taste colours," she explained. "Some people with my condition can smell sounds and various other combinations of the senses getting totally screwed up! It's kind of cool though."

Dave smiled at John, "sorry about her, she's nine kinds of fucking crazy."

Terezi laughed again, and stood up sharply. "Well I gotta finish unpacking," and walked off, a sly spring in her step.

Jade squealed, "I have to get going too! I'm sure you'll be fine, text me if you need anything and I've set your laptop up with Skype and everything! I'm going to miss you so much!" His sister leaned across the table and hugged him, smiling at Dave before she left.

* * *

 

"And this is John."

Everyone from their dorm, gathered outside their building, smiled at him, except for a few others, one of whom was asleep on someone who was too preoccupied with waking the tall boy up to smile, and the other guy who just looked pissed to hell.

After all the introductions were done, they all split and went back to their dorms, Dave silent after being very talkative with the others.

"I don't wanna be a dick," he began, a hand running down his neck awkwardly, "but, uh, if Jade's not around, how am I supposed to get what you're sayin'? You can't type shit to me all the time."

John took his hand and traced _I can write_ onto his palm.

The sudden contact and the softness of John's finger trailing over his skin sent a shiver up Dave's spine. He swallowed and nodded, unlocking the door to their room.

John grabbed a pen and paper and began to write elegant loops in vibrant blue ink.

 _I can teach you basic ASL_ he wrote, exposing his slightly protruding front teeth as he smiled, _and for other stuff I can just write, or type._

Dave returned the smile, a genuine one rather than his usual sarcastic smirk this time.

John wrote _what is your name_ on the paper, before carefully setting the pen down and slowly touching the index and middle fingers of each hand together twice diagonally and making a questioning motion with his hands twice. Dave copied the motion slowly, feeling idiotic. He knew his movements looked clumsy and jerky compared to John's precise, deliberate actions.

"Did I get it right?"

John nodded, smiling again.

"Could you, uh, show me how to say hello? Because if you're wildly motioning that at me and I don't know what it is I'm gonna look really stupid."

John laughed, the sound was soft and alien to Dave's ears.

John touched his hand, facing outwards, to his chin and raised it like a half salute. Dave copied again, blushing.

"Man how does Jade know all this stuff? I'm not gonna remember it all,"

John picked up the pen again. _She's being doing it since she was born, it's like a second language for us._

"What about your parents?"

John's face fell and he violently shook his head, taking in a jagged breath.

"Uh... Okay... Is there anything else you want to teach me?"

They spent the next hour learning and relearning basic ASL until Dave's brain and wrists hurt.

"We should get some sleep," Dave said with a yawn, lying back on his bed.

John quirked an eyebrow and a deep blush spread over his tan cheeks.

 _Can I use the bathroom first?_ he wrote and slid the paper over to Dave.

"Yeah, go for it you don't need to ask me that kind of shit," he smiled and watched John pad silently into the adjoining room, making sure the door was locked to the other dorm too.

John ran a hand through his hair and brushed his teeth longer than necessary. He splashed lukewarm water onto his face and leaned closer to the mirror examining his features in the surface. The pale scar that ran down the side of his tan face was more prominent in the fluorescent lights of the bathroom. As he slowly traced it with his index finger a light knock startled him from his reverie and he opened the door to the adjoining dorm. A short guy with messy dirt blonde hair looked up at him and smiled childishly. John recognised him from the dorm introductions, his name began with a 'T' but he couldn't recall it.

"H-hey, uuh, are you gonna be, uhh, much longer?"

John's eyes widened behind his glasses and he shook his head, backing into his own dorm as the boy looked at him strangely. The door clicked shut as he walked over to his bed, sitting on the edge and looking over at the blurred form of Dave sprawled half off his own bed, already asleep.

John noted that the other man's shades remained on his face, and he removed his own glasses before pulling off his clothes and crawling into bed in his underwear.


	2. Chapter 2

Classes and lectures followed in the next few weeks, and both John and Dave settled in just fine.

Dave accumulated many friends but John, preferring to keep to himself, often spent his free time in their room, reading or watching TV.

 

Dave didn't exactly try hard to communicate with John when his friends were around; they'd often come over and play video games with Dave even if half the games they played belonged to John- who was largely ignored. But unsurprisingly he didn't mind, he was used to sharing and as long as everyone else was happy, so was he.

 

John was happy to watch the world go by, watch his friends with their friends having fun as he sat on the sidelines, as that was the way it had always been.

 

In the evenings, when it was just John and Dave, the two played video games and Dave further progressed his knowledge of ASL. Their dorm mates were mostly nice: the two they shared a bathroom with were.... Interesting, to say the least, but they all got on. Jade Skype-called her brother from her travels every other night no matter how shitty the signal was, even if it was just to say 'hi'. John missed her, but he was so content just to be away from 'home' and with Dave- his first real friend in, well, forever.

 

It was a Thursday when things started to go wrong.

 

Dave had some friends over in their room - they sat and gamed for a few hours whilst John played on his PSP silently in the corner, waiting for either Jade or their uncle, Jake, to come online. John got stuck on a level of Dangan Ronpa and gave up, deciding instead to go for a walk.

 

"Hey, where'ya goin?" Dave called after him.

 

 _Out,_  John replied with a reassuring smile.

 

The air was humid and still, making his hair cling to his neck unpleasantly as he walked along the path beside the dorm buildings. Students passed him, talking excitedly about nothing, others lay sprawled on the grass, also talking, before they would head back to their rooms for the night.

 

It was late, but not too late, and John felt comfortably alone.

A girl ran by him and smiled, and he turned his head to watch her for a split second, and when he looked back again he was face to face with several older students.

 

"Watch it," one said, pushing past him.

 

"Are you gonna apologise?"

 

John swallowed and nodded, trying to convey his remorse with just his eyes. Instead he earned a hard shove that sent him falling backwards. John let out a strained cry as he hit the ground, the air knocked out of him leaving him gasping for air.

 

The tall dark one that had first told him to watch where he was going added a swift kick to his side before continuing to walk, the others following him.

 

John lay there for a few minutes, half hoping someone would come over and ask him if he were alright, before staggering to his feet and heading back to his room.

 

Dave was playing a multiplayer shooter with an Asian boy John recognised from further math, and the girl he recognised to be Terezi's sister. Terezi herself was sat with one of their suit mates on Dave's bed, talking over the sound of the gaming. John opened the door and tried not to limp as he walked into the bath room, smiling at Dave as he passed.

 

A light blue bruise was spidering across the left side of his ribs when John pulled his shirt up, wincing.

 

He ran a hand through his hair and readjusted his glasses. It had hardly been a major incident compared to high school however it felt like a huge step backwards for him. A few shaky breaths later and he felt comfortable to enter his room again.

 

Everyone was still in the same positions as before, the TV casting a glow onto the three gamers' faces.

"Hey John," Terezi called, waving slightly. "Me and Vris were just about to leave, so goodnight!" John waved back and smiled at the other girl as she handed Dave her controller and stood up, stretching.

 

"Hey, John," Vriska said, drawing the first syllable out longer than necessary.

 

"You wanna play?" John looked down at the Asian kid lying on his front, and shook his head slightly.

 

"Nah, he doesn't like this game, Sollux," Dave mumbled not once taking his eyes of the screen.

 

They played for another hour, their suite mate leaving not long after Terezi and Vriska, until Sollux also had to leave or he'd be locked out of his room by this "inthufferable dick" of a room mate.

 

"You sure you don't want to play for a bit?" Dave said, arching his back after sitting on the floor for so long.

 

 _No_ , _thank you._

 

The TV was swiftly turned off and the only light in the room came from the open window.

 

"Dude are you okay?"

 

John nodded slightly, backing away from Dave as he advanced.

 

"You seem upset? Or I don't know maybe you're just tired... I don't wanna offend you but this whole mute thing must really suck, huh?"

 

Again, John nodded, the backs of his knees hitting the mattress before Dave returned to his own half of the room and crawled into bed still half dressed.

 

John closed the window softly and removed his pants, folding them neatly and laying them on the floor by his bed so he could wear them again the next day. His bed was soft and inviting, the sound of Dave's shallow breathing and the heartbeat pulse of music from elsewhere echoing around the room as he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short and shit chapter :P


	3. Chapter 3

_Jade was crying. Her face was covered by her little arms and she was crying. He wanted to call out to her so he opened his mouth, no sound came out._

_He was standing still, he wanted to move and run away, but he couldn't. There was screaming, so much screaming._

_"John," someone was yelling his name. "John wake the fuck up!"_

He opened his eyes, wondering why the world was blurry and why there was still screaming before he realised he wasn't wearing his glasses and an alarm was ringing.

 

"Fuckin' fire drill," Dave was pulling him out of bed and propelling him towards the door, both just in their underwear. John grabbed his glasses as he was pushed out of the room, joining the mass of other people making their way out of the building

He shivered and hugged himself, trying to conceal the darkening bruise that only joined the patchwork of grazes, scars and faded bruises that decorated his tan skin.

In the dark and excitement no one paid too much attention to him as they lined up outside the dorm building.

“Okay, which fucktard was fucking smoking in their room at one in the fucking morning?” Their dorm supervisor stood before them in grey sweatpants and an oversized jersey, hair dishevelled and obviously extremely pissed off. When no one responded he just let out a stream of creative curse words and told them they could head back inside. Some other dorms had woken up at the noise and some people were leaning out of the windows.

Dave led John back to their room, stopping at the door and looking at him.

“What happened to you?” His fingers reached out and ghosted over the newest bruise, making John shiver at the contact. He shook his head and opened the door, diving back into his bed and throwing his glasses on the table. He felt himself slide backwards as Dave sat on his bed, causing a depression in the mattress.

“John, what’s up? You’re acting as if you don’t trust me or something? Which I mean, I don’t blame you I hardly _know_ you,”

John sat up, replaced his glasses and turned the light on. Dave handed him paper and a pen.

_I fell over._ It wasn’t a total lie, but even he knew it was stupid. Dave picked up the pen and wrote _no you didn’t_.

John raised his eyebrow, and tilted his head. _Did you really need to write that?_

Dave laughed slightly, “I felt like it,”

John pushed the paper away and pinched his fore finger and thumb together again. _No._

The paper was only pushed back towards him. Dave circled his hand over his chest, _please._

"Okay then, tell me about your parents. Why do you always freak out when they're mentioned?"

John shoved Dave hard onto the floor and raised his middle finger before pulling the covers over his head again.

“If it makes you feel any better I don’t _have_ any parents,” Dave yelled, standing up indignantly, “Jesus fuck, John, I’m trying so fucking hard with you!”

John sat up and stared blankly at him.

“I don’t have to be nice to you, y’know. It would be so easy to ignore you, considering you don’t ever _talk!_   But you can make sounds, that’s fucking weird, you know that right? Not being able to talk but you can laugh and shit,” Dave knew he should shut up, he could see the hurt building in John’s cerulean eyes but he continued with his tirade, “And I’m learning shitting sign language and shit, John, that shit ain’t easy. I just said shit a lot, fuck, usually in arguments they aren’t this one sided and my brothers shut me up or people start yelling and god now I can’t shut up and stop looking at me like that, John,”

His anger trailed off and he shook a hand through his messy hair. “Look I’m sorry...”

John reached out and placed a hand on his arm and smiled awkwardly. He signed _It’s okay_ and rolled over to go back to sleep.

Dave sat on his own bed, still curious, but content to let the matter lie for now. He watched John as he fell asleep, and shortly after he heard an alert from John’s laptop. The Skype icon was flashing with a notification.

He knew he really shouldn’t but he moved slowly over to John’s laptop and clicked on the notification.

John’s Skype icon was large in the top right hand corner, it was obviously a very young him and an even younger Jade, with a man in his early twenties who could possibly be their father. The application sounded again and he glanced at the message. It was from someone named Jake, his icon was definitely the same man as in John’s, except aged slightly, and far more tanned. The message itself was uninteresting, ‘(hi its jade (: ) youre probably still asleep but we still wanted to say hi. Internet signal is pretty shitty out here- we arrived in cambodia yesterday!! okay well talk later!!  :)’

Dave read it and closed the application, deciding it wasn’t that interesting after all. John’s wallpaper was beyond stupid, some movie crap he was obsessed with. The folders and applications were placed randomly, and Dave opened his work folder. Reading some of the essays he concluded John was actually pretty smart, well, compared to himself. Dave closed the laptop and climbed back into bed, unable to sleep but not seeing the point in doing anything else. He grabbed his iPod off the floor and plugged it in, setting it to shuffle and closing his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I really can't write today I am sorry -_-


	4. Chapter 4

“You better be eating well, not fast food every night!" Jade's hair was tied back in a messy bun, John could make out a woven net on the wall behind her and Jake, who was shirtless, as usual.

_Of course I am._

_  
_"Well, we best be off now, we have to set of very early!" Jake grinned, the trademark over-friendly bucktooth smile that almost everyone in their family had.

_Love you. Bye._

_  
_Dave waved from the other side of the room and Jade blew a kiss before shutting the webcam off.

John turned and smiled at his room mate. 

"So, Jake is your uncle?"

_My father's brother, yes._

"Slow down, I missed that,"

John repeated the sign and Dave nodded once, sliding off his bed and walking over. He sat down next to John and leaned closer to him. "You and Jade grew up with Jake?" He was trying to be subtle, to be honest he wasn't sure why he was so interested with John, or his past, but he wanted to know all the same.

John extended his right hand, clenched in a fist and flexed his wrist twice. _Yes._ _  
_

_  
_He sighed lightly and reached for a pen. _Until I was five._

_  
_"Why did you stop living with him?"

_He wanted to travel. Jade was only three at the time._

_  
_"So... where were your parents? Did you go and live with them?"

John's head snapped up and he stared stonily into Dave's shades.

_Take your glasses off. Then I'll tell you._

_  
_A strained laugh came from Dave, "Why do you want me to?"

_Why do you want me to tell you about my past?_

_  
_"Because I care about you," It was hardly a whisper, but John heard it. Dave slipped his glasses from his face, closing his eyes and placing them on the bed. "There I took them off now tell me,"

John hit him playfully and leaned close to his face, laughing slightly. Dave's eyes opened and stared into John's. His pupils were abnormally large, and a highly unnatural colour almost vermillion, and contrasted greatly with the softness of his gaze.

John reached up and cupped Dave's chin, tilting his head so his eyes caught the light, reflecting his face back at him. John let go and waved a hand over his face in a wide arc, ending in a fist.  _Pretty._

_  
_"No. Your eyes are pretty. Mine are fuckin' freaky. The old woman who lived in the appartment next to us tried to push me down the stairs when I was a kid, said I was the spawn of the devil or some shit. Bro had to call the cops," Dave's smile was gone and he replaced his shades, looking at John from behind them. "Now, tell me. Please,"

_My parents are dead_

"Join the club,"

_It was my fault. And we went into foster care. That's it really. How did yours die?_

_  
_"Never knew my father. My mother died after having me. It's not really a thing we care about in our family. How the fuck was it your fault?"

_I'm sorry for your loss. My mom was in the kitchen feeding Jade and I was watching TV. I heard her fall, not trip up, but just hit the ground. I went in to see if she was okay and she was lying there. I didn't call 911. I should have. Instead I just sat next to her and kept telling her to wake up._

"Jesus fuck, John, that was not your fault!"

_My father came home and I was just sat there on the floor. Her eyes were still open. Jade was crying and she wouldn't stop and my dad... he just screamed. We were fine, all things considered, for a few months. Until he stopped feeding us. He sat there just staring into space and some days he left us, me and a seven month old baby, to go sit at her grave, I think. Then one day, he didn't come back. Threw himself infront of a bus. We had police knocking down the door, because they thought he'd killed us too. Jade was so undernourished she nearly died. She's lucky she doesn't remember any of this. I stopped speaking after that._

_  
_Dave waited for John to finish writing before taking the paper and reading it. The blond was rendered speechless and he dropped the paper on the bed next to him and took John into his arms and held him. John pulled off his glasses and cried into his shoulder, wrapping his arms around the taller man.

"I'm so sorry," Dave whispered into John's dark mess of hair. "I'm so fucking sorry,"

 


	5. Chapter 5

They'd fallen asleep in each other's arms on John's bed, limbs tangled together, their hands intertwined. Dave's phone vibrating was what woke them up, causing John to recoil from his roommate and unceremoniously dump himself on the floor.

"Hi, what? Yeah, shit... sure.... okay. Yeah, bye," Dave hung up and rubbed his eyes, his shades having fallen off during the night. "We slept in," John lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling. "Are you okay, John?" He nodded, and rolled over to stand up. 

_I'm sorry._

"For what?"

John made a fist and tapped his thumb to his chin, then to just below his ear. _Yesterday._ Dave slid off the bed and joined him on the soft carpet. His hand tentatively reached out and brushed some of his hair from his face. His long, thin fingers traced the scar etched into his tan skin, feeling John relax beneath his touch. "Stop apologising for things that are out of your control," his breath was warm on John's face, and both men felt their hearts jump at the feeling of being so close to each other. 

Another inch and Dave's lips were milimeters from John's, his eyes slid shut as he closed the distance between them. John's lips were soft and warm, he tasted of toothpaste and something sweet, and Dave felt himself moving deeper into the kiss as he whimpered slightly. John's hands shot up and shoved Dave harder than the blond thought possible, sending him sprawling backwards, his head hitting the corner of the bed. John's eyes were wide and startled, his face confused as he scrambled to get up and backed away.

He pinched his middle and index fingers against his thumb.  _No._ He did it again several times, shaking his head for emphasis, backing away until his back his the wall. 

"What's wrong?"

_No. No. No. No._

_  
_Now it was Dave's turn to look confused and hurt. The two looked at each other, red eyes into blue, as the tension in the room built.

They were interrupted by a loud knock at the door, which opened and three people fell in, all laughing together. John disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Dave lying on the floor. 

Sollux looked at Dave and quirked an eyebrow. "What'th going on?"

"Uh, what the fuck are you doing in my room?" Dave replied, standing up, realising he was just in his boxers. He threw on a shirt and sat down on his own bed, trying to disguise the fact it obviously hadn't been slept in. Sollux's roommate drifted in after the others and looked around, nose turned up in disgust. Terezi giggled and wrapped an arm around her sister, who was looking at Dave's chest strangley.

"What?" Dave looked down, and realised he was wearing John's shirt. Blushing deeply, he pulled it off and grabbed one of his own from the closet before sitting back down. "No seriously what are you all doing here."

"We just came to say hi!" Terezi said, her glasses slipping down her nose.

"And," Vriska drawled, pushing her sister off her, "To ask you and John to come swimming with us," Her smile was unnerving, her two front incisors were slightly too long- it freaked Dave out.

"I'll ask him when he finally emerges," Dave nodded towards the bathroom, running a hand through his hair. "But sure, I'm up for it."

 


	6. Chapter 6

The campus swimming pool was used by the swimming team and the swimming team only, so the larger public pool in the city was the only other option.

John was perched precariously on the end of Eridan's overcrowded bed. His step-sister Feferi leaned against him, humming to her self, running her fingers through Eridan's hair as he typed on his phone, legs balanced on Sollux's chest. Dave was periodically kicking Sollux in the head for the fun of hearing the stream of profanities, not dissimilar to the ones spewed out by their dorm supervisor. They were waiting for Feferi's elder sister, who owned, for some reason, a small RV. She'd been out of college for five years but she still hung around the city.

Feferi's phone buzzed against Eridan's leg and he answered it for her in his pretentious fake-Central English accent. "Yeah w-we'll be down soon," his real slightly European accent slipped slightly he stuttered. He put the phone back into Feferi's hand and she sat up, pulling her step-brother up after her.

"Come on John!" John smiled back at her, it was hard not to, she was always so pleasant and happy.

"Hey, Dave, are the girls coming?" She turned to ask him, her dark hair swinging around her waist as she did so.

"Terezi can't get chlorine in her eyes and Vris said she was hanging out with those creeps we share a suite with," Dave rolled off the bed, giving Sollux one last kick.

"Hey fuck you, Thtrider,"

"Anytime," Dave replied, biting his lip teasingly. John's face flushed for reasons he was unsure of. The two hadn't spoken about what happened between them, and things were becoming increasingly more awkward. Dave had hardly looked at him all day, which made it difficult for John to communicate. Feferi was being very patient with him, reading what he wanted to say to other people from his phone, smiling at him almost constantly. They all made their way out of the dorm and over to the parking lot. A loud squeal came from Feferi as she practically threw herself at a tall girl with twin braids trailing down her back at stopping at her calves.

"Guys this is Meenah," Eridan said, sighing audibly, "the fuckin stupidest shit in our family," Meenah reached around her sister and smacked her step-brother hard over the head. "Shut up, dickface."

They piled into the van, a tangle of limbs, half on the seats and half on the floor, John choosing to sit in the shotgun seat. He began furiously blushing when Meenah started talking to him, unable to reply. Dave leaned over and placed a hand on John's shoulder, the first contact they'd had since the night before, and John couldn't help but feel uncomfortable at the touch.

"He doesn't speak," he said, "He's a great listener." Meenah looked at them from the corner of her eyes and said "uh-huh" noncommittally.

The pool was crowded with small children and teenagers, the noise of screaming and the smell of chemicals thick in the air. They went off to change into their swimming stuff whilst Meenah parked the van outside. The oppressive heat made John feel even more uncomfortable than he was, having to change in front of all these people- especially Dave. He swallowed hard and tugged his shirt off, folding it neatly, then he removed his pants and wrapped a towel round his waist. Dave took the sight in. The yellowing bruise on his ribs from the other day was a backdrop to tiny white scars and the spider-webs of old bruises that never properly healed, and the dark trail of hair leading from his navel to down beneath his swimming trunks. He inhaled sharply and bit his lip, tearing his eyes away and pulling off his own clothes.

Eridan, meanwhile, stripped completely, Sollux appeared unphased by this, but both Dave and John were both turning beet red. When they were all finally changed they half walked half ran to the poolside, Eridan running to the diving board as Sollux leapt into the water, surfacing seconds later, smiling. The tall dark haired boy smiled back at Sollux, readying himself on the board before gracefully diving in, hardly disturbing the water. He came up at the edge of the pool and shot his arm out, latching onto John's ankle and giving a sharp tug. He fell in on top of Eridan, squirming to get away and trying not to gasp for breath beneath the water. A strong hand gripped his wrist and pulled him upwards. When he opened his eyes he discovered the hand was Feferi's, who was simultaneously holding John and lecturing her step-brother on pool safety and etiquette. He looked at Dave and signed _it's ok._

He translated and slid into the pool himself, standing next to John in the shallow end.

"I... I'm sorry about last night. I was still a bit tired I guess and you're cute, there isn't an excuse and it won't happen again." John shook his head and leaned himself against Dave, tracing letters onto the skin of his arm.

_I am sorry_

"Jesus dicklicking Christ, John, stop apologising for everything! You... Kind of dropped something huge on me like that and you were vulnerable and I took advantage of that, I'm the one saying sorry not you."

John's fingers were cold against his warm arm as he wrote. _I didn't mean to upset you. But I am not a homosexual._

Dave sighed. "I guess I thought you were, you do seem kinda-" he was cut off by a loud scream and both boys turned to see the source. Eridan was being partially strangled by a taller, more tanned version of himself whilst Sollux and Feferi sat on the edge, tears streaming down their already wet faces.

"What the ever loving fuck is going on?" Mennah stood in an offensively pink two piece, a hand on her hip and her braids twirled into one bun at the back of her head.

"Just came to say hi to the little chief and his fuck buddies," Feferi stopped laughing and kicked the man hard in the back, so forcefully he dropped what both John and Dave assumed to be his brother and swore loudly.

"No one'th fucking anyone, Cronuth. Now fuck off,"

"How come everyone else gets a cute nickname like 'ED' and 'FF' but me?" Cronus pouted his accent even more pronounced than Eridan's, his deep blue eyes shining as he moved towards Sollux. His hand slid up his thigh and the younger man squirmed visibly and hissed something inaudible.

"I'll call dad if I have to, Cro. And that ain't gonna be pretty," Meenah's icy tone must have reached Cronus as moments later he was stood on the side of the pool, wearing ridiculously small violet Speedos. He winked at them before leaving, swinging his hips as he walked towards the changing rooms. "Now you've had the pleasure of meeting the entirety of the kid Peixes' and Amporas'." Feferi said, the smile still gone from her face. Eridan rubbed at his neck and smirked.

"Hey, Fef, race you?"

Feferi squealed as Eridan started before her and she dived in after him, leaving  a trail of frothing water in their wake.

"Shit they're good," Dave commented, his arm still casually slung around John's shoulders.

"Me and the 'lil one grew up on the coast. Eri and his douche of a brother lived on the Greek coast until he was 13, so they swam a fair bit too. Our house has a pool so... Yeah. I guess our families have always been swimmers. My mom swims too, wanted to try out for the Olympics when she was a kid," Meenah's face fell, "but she fell pregnant with me." She sighed and jumped in, keeping her head above water as she twirled her hands to stay afloat. "I'm sorry about Cronus. I'm sure he's somewhere on the autistic spectrum. It's like he has no knowledge of any social boundaries. That or the kid just don't give a shit. My guess is the latter."

Feferi and Eridan were loudly play fighting in the deep end of the pool, and Sollux watched from the edge.

A small child splashed past John and Dave, who were still touching at the shoulder in the shallow end. "Have you seen my ball?" The kid looked up at them from behind his too-tight goggles, smiling widely to reveal his missing front teeth.

"No, buddy, we ain't seen your ball,"

The boy frowned and paddled back the way he came. John laughed lightly and pushed away from Dave, splashing him accidentally as he did so.

"Okay, Egbert, it's on," Dave brought his arm down hard on the surface of the water, sending a wave of water cascading over him, causing his glasses to fall off and sink to the pool floor.

John giggled and splashed back, ignoring the fact he could hardly see. He retaliated by leaping forward and snatching Dave's glasses and placing them on his own face.

"Hey, give them back!" Dave's cool exterior slipped and he fell into a panic as he tried to grab his sunglasses.

John kicked away and signed _no_ , smiling widely and god be damned if Dave didn't think that was the most adorable thing he'd ever seen. But he still wanted his shades back.

"Why do you even wear them in the water any- holy fuckin' shit," Meenah caught sight of his eyes and burst out laughing. "Kid, you look like a fuckin' demon or some shit!"

"Go fuck yourself, Peixes," Dave retorted, earning many glares from parents at their language. John handed Dave his shades back, all fun drained from the game, and felt around with his feet for his glasses.

John got out and showered before anyone else, changing into the clothes he'd been wearing before and towel-drying his thick hair. He managed to get his arm entangled with the towel and he struggled with it for a few minutes before sighing loudly and just standing there like a dork. He felt strong hands on his waist and he froze, the hands moved to his arms and pull them free of the towel. John found himself once again staring up at Dave's shades. He tentatively touched his hand to his mouth and lowered in slightly- _thank you_.

"No problem, John," John frowned, and then recoiled from Dave's touch as he realised how wet the other was. John gestured to the showers and Dave shook his head.

"I think mermaid-boy and lispy need some alone time," John blushed, feeling awkward yet again as the tall blond stood before him, dripping chlorinated water into a puddle at his feet, the fabric of his swim shorts clinging to him in all the right places, the curve of his hip bones easing into his toned stomach muscles and that light smattering of hair that dipped below- he stopped that train of thought right there before it could go any further, and turned away.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't like this chapter idk why sorry  
> Sorry for the wait I had trouble getting it off my phone and onto my laptop to upload  
> There are loads of spelling and grammar mistakes because I am lazy, if you see any let me know ok :3

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Brecheese (huglikeakennedy.tumblr.com) for your help with this, I suck at proofreading and plot so you've really helped <3


End file.
